08/07/09 - McNairy County

Bethel Springs Bridge Repair Delay
By: Mallory Cooke
mcooke@wbbjtv.com
7:00 p.m.
 
People in one McNairy County town are putting up a fight because one of their main roads is shut down.
 
Frustrated, upset and annoyed is how people in Bethel Springs feel since one of the town's main bridges shut down four months ago.
 
"We need to be able to get an ambulance over here, get a fire truck over here and get our kids to school," said Coleen Johnson, a lifelong Bethel Springs resident.
 
Johnson and other Bethel Springs residents say they were told the Bethel-Purdy Bridge reconstruction would only take 90 days.
 
"They tell them nothing. You ask them questions and you do not get an answer," said Johnson.
 
Norma Smith, Mayor of Bethel Springs, said the bridge was shut down back in April after it failed a state inspection. Mayor Smith says the city ran into even more problems when the contractor they hired backed out of the deal.
 
Smith said, "He not only withdrew his bid for our bridge. There were other bridges that he withdrew the bid from."
 
Smith says the city has a new contractor now and he is set to begin construction by September.
 
"We just hope they will be understanding and pardon our progress because there is a light at the end of the tunnel," said Mayor Smith.
 
Until then, drivers will have to take a 3.5 mile detour around the bridge. 
 
"We need this bridge. We want this bridge and we will do anything in our power to get this bridge," said Johnson.
 
Johnson says she plans to voice her concerns at the next town meeting on Monday. Mayor Smith says dozens of other cities and counties across the state are also working on bridge projects, which has contributed to the delay.